Tow Haul on Ford F53

I've had the Tow haul on our 2006 Class A Ford F53 for 7 years. I've always wondered if it works rite. I understand that it is designed to simply delay the shift points till higher RPMs and that works fine for towing. My problem has usually been trying to get it to downshift going down a mountain grade. It seems I have to use a lot of brake to slow before it will cause a downshift. The manual says I simply tap the brake twice. Usually doesn't work. I just manually downshift before my speed gets too high.??? I don't like the speed to get over 45 mph on a steep down grade.:h

I use the tow haul all the time, when I'm in the mountains and really like the way it operates. Don't get nervous if you run higher RPM's than 3000. That V-10 is tougher than you think. 5000 RPM's won't hurt it one bit.

I agree the tow/haul is very useful. I have not had problems coming down a grade. It seems to kick in when I need it and adjust to my needs. I may take a bit more to kick down than two taps but not much. It is also useful when driving into the wind.

I used the tow/haul last fall for the first time around Chattanooga Tn. It worked great going down a steep hill. Hit the brake once it shifted down one gear hit the brake again and it shifted down another gear and held us at 55mph going down the hill. Does anyone actually use it when towing?

Last summer on I40 headed east thru North Carolina. East of Asheville there's a very long decent. Flashing lights, all truck pull over and such. Towing a Honda Accord with a Ready Brake tow bar. Top of the hill hit the brake for a bit until the transmission down shifted and the coach held steady a 55 or so the entire decent. Never touch the brake again. RPM peaked at about 3500. Bottom of the hill hit the resume on the cruise control, transmission up shifted and the coach accelerated up to my normal 62 and away we went.

We are almost always towing so use tow/haul all the time except when one of us forgets to turn it on. We remember on the first downgrade. Don't worry about the revs. Note that the tach has no red line on it. I understand that there is some type of rev limiter that won't allow it to over rev.

Ok once one gets use to the almost intantaneous rpm increase. My complaint is the cruise control - exactly the same on our 2013 F53 as our previous 2005 E-450. Hit a slight grade and suddenly the transmission makes a dramatice downshift and the instantaneous rpm increase is more than a little disconcerting. Compared to my daily diesel SUV driver, Ford's cruise control system seems to have been developed in the dark ages!

I always thought it was just a consequence of weight. My Jeeps always seemed to kick down too soon on cruise with slight grades. I understand Five Star Tuning makes a difference by changing shift points.

I'm a fairly old, old timer but I've learned that in modern vehicles the computer is way smarter than any driver can be. The days of low RPM torque engines are gone. The Ford V10 is a high winding, high torque and high horsepower gas engine that is built to run continuously at 5000 RPM. It may be noisy but it loves to run at high RPMs. The computer that controls the engine and transmission will not allow you to hurt the motor. Period. We've been in mountain situations where we are descending an 8% grade for miles and just let the computer handle the decent. TOW/HAUL mode in conjunction with cruise control is a great way to assure you are safe. Let the computer do it's thing. And yes! the engine may climb past 5000 RPM. Just get use to it and you will enjoy the reliability and power of this great engine.

Thanks for all the help this is great reading